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theses

Open inquiry offers students the opportunity to gain 21st century skills and expose them to science practices advocated by Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). While this raises the bar from lower-level inquiry classes, students initially struggle with open inquiry, because they do not know what to expect as they shift from a teacher-directed environment to a student-driven one (Bevins & Price, 2016; Germann, Haskins, & Auls, 1996; Pizzolato, Fazio, Sperandeo Mineo, & Persano Adorno, 2014). Students can feel frustrated, inadequate, and less confident when experiencing open-inquiry activities initially (Gormally, Brickman, Hallar, & Armstrong, 2009). This is notable, because students’ self-efficacy in science effects whether students will choose future STEM classes and majors (Moss, Cervato, Genschel, Ihrig, & Ogilvie, 2018), and can be used to predict academic performance in science, engineering, and math classes (Lent, Brown, & Larkin, 1986; Pajares, Miller, & Hill, 1995). To counter these challenges, I proposed an asynchronous online cross-age peer tutoring program to boost middle school students’ self-efficacy in STEM as they conduct research using open inquiry. The results reveal that a peer tutoring program significantly improved the students’ self-efficacy in open-inquiry science. Furthermore, the findings show that certain factors may influence the effectiveness of an online cross-age peer tutoring program, such as students’ perceptions of their tutors’ knowledge, helpfulness, and quality of support. This paper outlines ways to improve tutor training and better convey the importance of the teacher’s role in an online cross-age peer tutoring program.

Open inquiry can potentially elevate the quality and meaningfulness of science research projects; however, teachers initially face many challenges when initiating this method. Therefore, I showcase a student research project from start to finish, including providing helpful tips that I have acquired during my years of using open inquiry, to help teachers learn how to incorporate open inquiry into their elective classes and after-school programs. This paper also features a professional development (PD) plan that imparts the questioning, feedback, and modeling skills needed to effectively lead open-inquiry activities. This PD plan, coupled with a professional learning community, helps teachers sustain the skills learned in PD.

ETD_9444

Ed.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Jennifer A. Johnson

doi:10.7282/t3-9s23-eh63

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.